#modern!itzal

[onlyhatredleft]

First meeting Wendy {{Cause I can't get enough of these two}}

"Sir?" The brunette flashed a dimpled smile when she noticed the deer-in-headlights expression on the customer's face. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Yes..." His dark eyes, so tired even in the soft ambient lighting, wandered vacantly between her face and the menu. "Green oolong."

"Of course. Will the hot oolong tea and Singapore-style curried noodles be all for you today?"

He pulled out his wallet in reply and handed her a credit card.

"Lovely children," she noted. "How old are they?"

He flinched at the question and snapped the wallet shut, hiding the faces of a beaming young girl and boy.

Her expression fell immediately. "I'm sorry." He glanced up at her fleetingly, as if reaching for one last beacon. The light in him was in grave danger of guttering out and it broke her heart.

The customer was at a booth still picking apart his meal when her shift ended. She held her plate tighter and ventured over to him. "Mind if I...?"

He turned away from her while simultaneously clearing away a few papers that looked like legal documents. She sat on the stool next to him and her eyes fell on a cane leaning nearby that she had not noticed before. Fighting past her doubts with another smile, she extended a hand. "I'm Wendy."

He hesitated, but finally lifted his own hand and fitted it to hers. "Itzal."

[onlyhatredleft]

Returning

Modern!AU.

He had tumbled into sleep on his side, with those impossibly long legs drawn up towards his chest as if he cradled an egg against his stomach and wished, even in rest, to guard it with his life. Nere smiled at the sight and beckoned the kids to tiptoe into the bedroom, quietly, so as not wake up Daddy.

Esti, with the more confident stride, reached the end of the bed first and resolutely wiggled under the covers until her head of wild curls popped up between her parents' bodies. Danel, reserved, tottered over to Nere's side and lifted his arms to be carried. She scooped him up and dumped him in a heap of giggles beside his sister.

"Sshh. Daddy's tired from his trip. Let's surprise him when he wakes up."

When he opened his eyes in the morning, he was greeted by the soft breathing of his wife and children in deep slumber, with Esti's arms draped protectively over Danel's and Nere's body curved like a shield next to them. He blinked groggily before displaying joy on his eyes, brows, and mouth.

Esti rubbed her eyes without energy when he curled down to brush hair from her face. "Mm, 'lcome back, Daddy."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm home."

[onlyhatredleft]

{pressed between papers in his briefcase} Life is a story, short or long, great or small. And each page is a new day. What we must decide is what kind of story we wish to tell. Day by day, we write that story, we live it. We are all authors. Wendy

"Who's this, a girlfriend?"

His eyes flitted over to the note that his coworker Leith fluttered in the air. Eyes and voice hard, he snapped it out of her grasp. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Her dark eyes widened a fraction and he knew he was too harsh. Leith shielded herself with a laugh and continued perusing the case file as Itzal stared at the crown of her head. She was not the one-dimensional people pleaser he had first made her out to be; when the firm had taken a hit a few years ago she had stayed on, against all advice.

Itzal's hand tightened. How long had he avoided new pages? New relationships, new conversations, new laughs... Ever since that he hadn't--well, it had taken a long time for Wendy to reach him.

"...Do you want to get coffee later? I can look over your case with you."

Leith blinked. "Would you really? That'd be great."

And she would take five minutes deciding what to drink and finally order the same thing he did, even if it was straight black. Itzal smiled, causing Leith to lift her brows in surprise, and tucked the slip of paper into his shirt pocket over his heart.

[onlyhatredleft]

{tucked into his jacket pocket} They say all cells in the body die and are replaced every seven years. If that's true, it's comforting to know that even though the heart may feel the pain, the body no longer does. It has begun anew. We live on. Wendy

His hand begins trembling before he's finished reading. The papers on his desk are sagging, demanding attention. He snaps off a piece of tape and sticks the note to the upper corner of his computer, then nestles his chin into the cup of his palm. Hunched over, brooding.

In thirty minutes, his coworker will ask if he is okay. For the first time in years, Itzal will not be lying when he nods.

[onlyhatredleft]

Daisy, Honeysuckle, Kennedia, White/Red Rose

Daisy: Four things that make your character happy

Photography, spending time with Wendy, the sound of trees on a windy day, children (it depends on the occasion)

Honeysuckle: Who does your character love like family?

His dearest friend, Wendy.

Kennedia: One thing your character admires in someone

People who never let a bad experience or situation bring them down.

White/Red Rose: Who is someone your character has found themselves cooperating with when they didn’t expect it?

Otso. But that hasn't happened yet. He has conceded philosophical debates to Edmund more than a couple of times, even though Ed is younger.

[onlyhatredleft]

"Zal!" Wendy cried as she looked over her shoulder. "Come on! We'll miss it if we don't hurry!" The two friends had taken a trip to Yellowstone and Wendy was insistent on seeing Old Faithful.

He turned to his best friend and placed a finger to his lips. Poised in front of his Nikon D40x was a wide-eyed, wobbly-legged doe who had wandered away from her herd. After a few snaps and a respectful nod from Itzal, she bolted away and he laboriously got to his feet. “Old Faithful isn’t going to disappear before we get there,” he vowed with a mock serious expression.

[onlyhatredleft]

This Dance

A modern!AU fic for Itzal and Wendy.

--Are you nervous?

--A little.

He muffled a laugh into his right shoulder, the sound too tight with anxiety to skitter far beyond the girl’s ears. His large, prominently bony hands rested comfortably in preparation for the music because this was Wendy, his best friend, and this was her big day. But Itzal’s eyes were dark reflections of fear, windows baring the maws of a thousand worries about gripping her hand too tightly or stepping on her train and ripping the delicate lace.

--It’s okay. Relax.

--Trying to.

The music wafted through the room and Itzal hunched his shoulders as if he could make his 6’3” frame fold up neatly onto the floorboards to make way for the next man in line who would be better, more deserving, more whole. Wasn’t it a little late to tell her? That he did not dance, that he had never danced since Nere’s death and that yes, they had practiced just yesterday, but that was different. This was her day, her only-once day, and he did not want to be the one to ruin in.

The music swelled.

--Well, here goes nothing.

--Yeah.

His physical defect was a noticeable impediment, a tell-tale limp that hooked apprehension into his chest. His gaze groped for the toes of his pointed shoes that disappeared under the folds of Wendy’s white dress. She smiled up at him, catching his eyes before they could crash to the floor.

--I’m terrified, he whispered.

--Why? Her delicate brows drew together with concern.

--I’m...I’ll mess everything up.

--No...never. This day would be nothing without you.

Her ballerina flats always hit the ground running while he was content to watch her with his hands hidden in his pockets and loafers planted, the rock she could return to if she somehow managed to get lost in that sunshine world of hers. A world he could sometimes catch a glimpse of when they had cupped palms to the spring rain, when they had wandered the City searching for the freshest mint for that perfect vegan ice cream recipe that Itzal had discovered purely by accident.

Wendy placed a hand against his cheek. The song was over. His nose stung as he relinquished her to Alex’s arms and hurried off the stage. His part was over at last and there would be others to hold her hand and kiss her cheek and wish her the happiness she deserved in full. Others with whom to dance.